Reflections, commentaries, critiques and ideas from 40 years experience in the fields of Community Development, Community Education and Social Justice. Useful tools and techniques that I have learnt also added occassionally.

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The name of this blog, Rainbow Juice, is intentional.The rainbow signifies unity from diversity. It is holistic. The arch suggests the idea of looking at the over-arching concepts: the big picture. To create a rainbow requires air, fire (the sun) and water (raindrops) and us to see it from the earth.Juice suggests an extract; hence rainbow juice is extracting the elements from the rainbow, translating them and making them accessible to us. Juice also refreshes us and here it symbolises our nutritional quest for understanding, compassion and enlightenment.

Tuesday, 14 February 2017

Just Anger (Part 2 of 2)

The previous blogpost suggested that when anger arises inside us we are faced
with two pathways. The first pathway leads in the direction of resentment, a
desire for revenge, and possibly all the way to violence. Standing at that
junction this first pathway is highly visible. It is well–trodden. It is lit
up with signs seducing you with promises of retribution, righteousness and
winning. It promises relief from the anger. Yet, as we all know, such promises
are illusory.

The second pathway, in contrast, is hard to see. It is obscured, perhaps
hidden by the bushes along the roadway. Not many turn towards this pathway.
However, many of those that have are house-hold names, giants in the history of
the world: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rev Desmond Tutu, Emily Pankhurst, Te
Whiti o Rongomai, Vaclav Havel, Rosa Parks, Thich Nhat Hanh.1

Anger is often a secondary emotion, meaning that some other feeling or
emotion has triggered the one of anger. The first pathway is very easy to step
onto when all we recognise is the emotion of anger. However, if we are mindful
and patient, we can realise that our anger is a signpost to something else
within us. If we allow our anger to dictate our actions then we will never
discover the underlying emotions. But, if we step back, perhaps take a few deep
breaths and just witness our anger (not acting on it, nor trying to drive it
away, or suppress it), then we may find that the underlying emotions are ones of
hurt, pain, insecurity, dejection, revulsion, or (the biggie) fear.

Uncovering and discovering these emotions that lie beneath our anger is how
we do justice to our anger. We treat anger as a friend, saying “thank you my
friend anger; you have allowed me to discover my fears and pain.”

The next thing we notice on this pathway is that we are all the same. Our
anger hides pain, hurts and fears. This is just as true for the person who we
believe has angered us. They too are likely to have acted out of a hurt or
fear. Their words or actions that angered us came from their hurt and fear.
When we start to understand our own suffering then we also start to understand
the suffering of others. With that clarity, compassion can arise. Once
compassion has entered our heart we are well on our way down the second
pathway.

But, what about those situations we (as social justice activists) should be
angry about? Certainly, there are many injustices in the world and we get angry
because of them. When Khandro Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher, was asked
this question, she replied “Anger is always a waste of time.”
Persisting, her questioner responded that there were some things we should be
angry about. Khandro Rinpoche immediately replied, “I didn’t tell you to
give up your critical intelligence. I told you anger is a waste of
time.”2
Acting with compassion, and critical intelligence, is a very different
venture to that of acting from anger. Compassion and critical intelligence open
up the space for creativity, honest dialogue and the chance of healing.

Pathway Tools
Along this second pathway there are many tools at our disposal. Sadly, our
cultures have very rarely used these tools and few of us get the opportunity to
learn them. Here, are some of the tools we can pick up on this pathway:

Forgiveness: The forgiveness cycle has been eloquently described
in The Book of Forgiving, by Desmond and Mpho Tutu.3 They
describe a fourfold journey of: telling the story, naming the hurt, granting
forgiveness, renewing or releasing the relationship. Forgiveness is not a
condoning of the action, nor is it forgetting. Forgiveness is not a weakness,
nor is it easy, and it certainly does not undermine the concept of justice. In
most cases forgiveness is an action that frees the forgiver from the trap of
pain, anguish, revenge, and anger.

Nonviolent Communication (NVC): Developed by Marshall Rosenberg
at the time of racial tensions in the USA, NVC recognises that our emotions
arise from our needs (or values). If our needs are met, then we will experience
“good” emotions, such as happiness, joy, excitement, peace. However, if our
needs are not met, then “bad” emotions such as despair, misery, distress, fear,
or anger, will arise. NVC provides tools for dealing with our emotions and
needs and how we communicate these with others.

Nonviolence: As a means of dealing with social conflict,
nonviolence has a long history and theory of practice. Nonviolence has often
been defined simply as non-harm. However, it also recognises that conflict is
natural in society and there are positive ways of dealing with that.
Nonviolence separates the issue from the person, recognising that our opponents
have value and are worthy of respect and dignity. Nonviolence often espouses a
more holistic view of the world and one that is non-hierarchical. It is often
used as a socio-political means of confronting injustice.

Mindfulness: Mindfulness has already been alluded to – it is a
practice of awareness. Becoming mindful we become aware of each moment, we
become aware of our bodily sensations, of emotions arising and passing away.
The practice of mindfulness means that we do not grasp and hold on to our
thoughts and prejudices with desperation, nor are we repelled by them. They
simply are. With mindfulness our attachment to ego begins to dissolve and we
recognise our interconnections – what Thich Nhat Hanh calls interbeing.

Non-attachment to Outcome: Acting from anger we are often wanting
an outcome. We may desire revenge, retaliation, or perhaps just the
self-satisfaction of winning a verbal battle. However, one of the biggest
realities that we must come to terms with is that there is no such thing as a
surety of outcome. We can no more control the future than we can control the
spin of the Earth. Understanding this we can approach our anger with compassion
and wisdom.

A final word of caution. Just because we decide to travel down this second
path does not mean that the other(s) will join us on the journey. Although we
offer the hand of forgiveness, or the words of NVC, we may be responded to with
anger. Does this mean we should not turn down this path unless our opponent,
enemy, or rival does so also? No. Vaclav Havel understood this when he noted
that, “Hope, in the deep and meaningful sense … is an ability to work for
something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to
succeed.”
Anger. An intense emotion. With practice, we can work with it, instead of
it working us over.

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About Me

I have almost 40 years experience working (paid and unpaid, government and non-government) in community development/education and social justice fields. I have continued to keep myself abreast of philosophies and theories in these and related fields. This blogsite will offer ideas, thoughts, reflections on these fields as well as giving some tools and techniques. I don't pretend that these will be original but I do hope that they will be able to translate some of these diverse ideas into coherent forms accessible to workers in the areas.